ACC/Big East/Miami Revisited

[Radii]

http://espn.go.com/ncf/news/2003/0504/1549269.html

And, the article text here, since that appears to be the FOFC protocol:

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Miami, BC, Syracuse: ACC's expansion wish list?

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Associated Press


FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Miami is exploring the possibility of moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference, athletic director Paul Dee confirmed.

Dee told The News-Press of Fort Myers he has spoken with ACC commissioner John Swofford as well as athletic directors in the league.

"The status is there are discussions and we're exploring possibilities, but there has been no real invitation or acceptance either way," Dee told the newspaper for Sunday's edition, his first public comments on the issue.

Dee said several school officials would give their opinion on staying or leaving the Big East, but the decision mainly would be made by himself and school president Donna Shalala.

If the ACC lured Miami, the conference likely would expand from nine to 12 schools and host a conference football championship, much like the Big 12 and the Southeastern conferences.

Boston College and Syracuse are reportedly the leading candidates to join Miami since those schools would bring large television markets to a conference that currently only has one major media market in Washington, D.C. Seven of nine ACC schools must approve expansion. Several newspapers have reported that Swofford is one vote shy of gaining approval. Duke and North Carolina are against expansion.

Dee said it's unlikely Miami will join the conference next week, which has been reported.

Dee didn't rule out a decision happening in the next couple of months, but not Thursday, the 50th anniversary of the ACC.

"Absolutely untrue," Dee said. "Could something fall out of the sky between now and then? Maybe, but I doubt it. There is nothing we have to react to or anything by next Thursday."

Dee said there was no specific timetable.

"It depends on how serious we get about wanting to be a member and how serious they want to be about wanting to expand," he said. "We're just exploring and taking a very hard look at the Big East to see if there's not something we can do there. But by and large, we're just exploring things right now."

Dee made a presentation to the school's board of trustees April 25, discussing the pros and cons of leaving the Big East to join the ACC. Other comments were made by football coach Larry Coker and women's volleyball coach Nicole Lantagne Welsh.

"I'd like to play schools in the ACC, but we don't need to get in a conference to do that," Coker said Friday night. "I don't think being in the ACC is a big advantage to us. Then there would be the issue of Florida State. When we would play them, would we be in the same division, would we knock each other from the BCS?"

Miami's discussions with the ACC have created unrest among some Big East officials and led to an angry outburst by Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese. In his only public comments on the matter, Tranghese criticized the ACC.

"I have no use for the ACC right now," Tranghese told the New York Daily News. "They're a bunch of hypocrites. They operate in the dark."

Syracuse athletic director Jake Crouthamel said Miami's decision would greatly affect any moves by other Big East schools.

"That's an understatement," he said. "They do control the future of the Big East in football. That's why the ACC is looking at them. If Miami leaves, it causes seven other schools to re-examine what they do. It's very significant.

"If you're taking the lead dog out of the football mix, it has a significant impact on the conference. It's a concern to everybody. Could we have a football conference? Yes. Would it be viable? No."

[Samdari]

I think the, "Without Miami, Big East football is not viable" comment by Jake (we are on a first name basis) is very telling. I think it is true, but surprised anyone not from the ACC admits this. If Miami does jump, I hope SU desperately clings to their ankles and gets taken with them.

[Marmel]

The latest I heard on this was that UConn was being considered in place of BC. Of course, I heard this from some panicked UConn fans who don't know what would happen to them if the Big East fell apart, so take this with a grain of salt.

[oykib]

I'd guess that if Miami jumps ship, then Syracuse is definitely right behind them.

While I think BC is probably the most attractive school left because of its media market, I would imagine that Pitt might feel that it could fight its way in too.

[VPI97]

Originally posted by oykib
I'd guess that if Miami jumps ship, then Syracuse is definitely right behind them.

While I think BC is probably the most attractive school left because of its media market, I would imagine that Pitt might feel that it could fight its way in too.

Miami and Syracuse would definitely be two of the three...the third may very well be BC or Pitt, but the word I'm hearing is that UVA is going to vote against expansion if Virginia Tech isn't included. It takes seven of the nine school to approve expansion and since Duke and UNC have been reported to be against ANY form of expansion, a vote without UVA's support would fail.

[albionmoonlight]

I think the ACC should stay as a small baskeball conference. But, so far, they have not asked me.

[Marmel]

VPI, I heard teh exact opposite. I heard that UVA does not want VTech in the ACC, and that is the only team where they would throw a negative vote.

Interesting. So many rumors floating around, it is hard to know what might have some truth to it.

[henry296]

As for Pitt, the rumors I have heard is that Joe Paterno would really like Pitt to join the Big 10 and their 12th school. That makes a lot of geographic sense and would bring back the Pitt-Penn State rivalry.

Todd

[Radii]

Originally posted by albionmoonlight
I think the ACC should stay as a small baskeball conference. But, so far, they have not asked me.

I wholeheartedly agree.

[VPI97]

Originally posted by Marmel
VPI, I heard teh exact opposite. I heard that UVA does not want VTech in the ACC, and that is the only team where they would throw a negative vote.

FWIW, I have a reliable source who is prominent in Virginia politics that has said that the state is putting pressure on UVA to veto any plan without VT. The reason being is that if UM, Syr, & BC leave the Big East, the conference is dead for football...at that point, VT is certain to take a gigantic financial hit since the bulk of the school's athletic revenue is derived from football. (Also, the state just helped foot a portion of the bill for VT's new stadium expansion). UVA could withstand the pressure and vote against VT, but they'd be putting a portion of future state funding at risk.

[Anrhydeddu]

Just a step along the way to the long-predicted three mega-conferences: East, South and West.

[Marmel]

I don't think so Anrhy.....

The 12 team conference is the ideal setup. Two six team divisions with the winner's playing each other in the big money Conference Championship game. That is football of course....basketball doesn't even play into the equation of forming conferences.

[cthomer5000]

has anyone considered what this would do to poor Rutgers?!!!

[Marmel]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
has anyone considered what this would do to poor Rutgers?!!!

It couldn't actually hurt their basketball or football program, could it?

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by Marmel
It couldn't actually hurt their basketball or football program, could it?

It would hurt the basketball program, which has been respectable the lat 2 years and is now on the verge of a breakthrough.

The football team .... well, this might lead to a fall to I-AA or something boring like that.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I with albion & radii on this one, I don't want any of the teams under discussion to be added to the ACC. In the conference, football is just something to pass the time until basketball comes along AFAIC.

[Marmel]

OK, speaking from a fan's perspective, I wouldn't want to see Syracuse move to the ACC, for basketball or for football.

But looking at the situation realistically, the ACC needs to expand. Football is the money maker in a conference, and FSU needs better football teams in the ACC, otherwise it is probably just a matter of time before they bolt to the SEC or something.

So, it makes sense for the ACC to expand, bring in a football powerhouse in Miami, and two tradiitionaly solid programs in Boston and Syracuse.

Certainly, adding Syracuse basketball is a boost for the ACC, and Boston hoops doesn't hurt them.

Ideally, from a fan's perspective again, the Big East should do everything in its power to add Notre Dame in football, or be proactive and steal Penn St. away from the Big 10 (11). Either of those moves would make the Big East one of the premier football and basketball conferences.

[Logan]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
It would hurt the basketball program, which has been respectable the lat 2 years and is now on the verge of a breakthrough.

The football team .... well, this might lead to a fall to I-AA or something boring like that.

FWIW, ct, as a current Rutgers student, I'm predicting a 7-5 mark for the upcoming season, hopefully with a minor bowl to go along with it. This team will surprise some people. We have a very easy schedule, and this season could go a long way to changing people's outlook about RU football. Schiano has his system completely installed, these are now HIS players, and Ryan Hart looks like he can be a very good QB.

And about basketball...have you been following the recruiting class? We have some big-time players coming in. Here's a quick rundown...

Quincy Douby is a SG who rivals.com has called the best outside shooter in the country. He should make an immediate contribution.

Marquis Webb is a combo guard from Patterson Catholic. He's big and strong and really can do everything. Supposedly very intelligent on the court.

Byron Johnes was just signed. You might remember his 6'9" 300 lb body from ESPN, when his Oak Hill Academy team took on LeBron. He's been losing weight, and if Waters can get him down to about 270 (which he did with Kareem Wright), he could be a solid player in the middle.

Antwi Atuahene could be a huge signing. He's the top PG in Canada and put up 35 pts, 15 assists, and 12 boards a game. He very well might start this season if he comes into camp and plays well.

Already a solid class, but we may have gotten a wild card in Darryl Watkins. If signed, he would be our top recruit. He's 6'10" and solid, an offensive machine supposedly. He already ruled out UNC and Syracuse, and was here for a visit this weekend. Saw him with a couple of the guys on the team and he was having a great time and said he was leaning towards us.

Right now, all of our recruits are in the top 20 at their position. If Watkins signs as expected, we would have, at the worst, a top 20 national recruiting class.

Should be a fun season...

[oykib]

I don't think that anyone is getting ND. Their setup is too sweet as it is.

But it's possible that Penn State has tired of the dogfight that is the Big Ten.

[Butter]

I know the Big 10 pushed to get Notre Dame in football a while back (which only makes sense since it seems like half their schedule is Big 10 anyway), but were rebuffed.

But if the Big East wants Penn St., by all means, go to town as far as I'm concerned. Aside from football, they're a drag on the conference's quality.

[Butter]

Originally posted by Logan
FWIW, ct, as a current Rutgers student, I'm predicting a 7-5 mark for the upcoming season, hopefully with a minor bowl to go along with it.

That's a typo, I think he meant "2-10".

[henry296]

The addition of 3 schools could help the ACC in basketball as well. With a big push to have teams with .500 conference records in the NCAA tournament it is real hard for more the 4 teams to achieve that in the ACC. At its current size, the ACC might never get 5 teams in the NCAA, especially if it remains as top heavy.

I agree that this move does likely kill the Big East as a football conference. I am not sure where VT might go without the Big East.

Todd

[Craptacular]

Originally posted by Radii

Boston College and Syracuse are reportedly the leading candidates to join Miami since those schools would bring large television markets to a conference that currently only has one major media market in Washington, D.C.

Did Georgia Tech move from Atlanta?

[Samdari]

Originally posted by VPI97
FWIW, I have a reliable source who is prominent in Virginia politics that has said that the state is putting pressure on UVA to veto any plan without VT. The reason being is that if UM, Syr, & BC leave the Big East, the conference is dead for football...at that point, VT is certain to take a gigantic financial hit since the bulk of the school's athletic revenue is derived from football. (Also, the state just helped foot a portion of the bill for VT's new stadium expansion). UVA could withstand the pressure and vote against VT, but they'd be putting a portion of future state funding at risk.

Well, you hit on something very interesting here. I am sure that the current athletic department (read: football team) at UVA would love to see VPI without a bigtime conference to participate in, therefore setting the stage for them to become the dominant football program in the state. Would big-time recruits go to a school that did not play big-time football?

But, I can see where the state political structure would want to protect the interests of BOTH schools. So, when push came to shove, who would get to cast the vote?

As for the ACC staying a small basketball conference, didn't they already forfeit that right when they recruited FSU in order to give the football league some credibility and secure a BCS slot?

[albionmoonlight]

Originally posted by Samdari
As for the ACC staying a small basketball conference, didn't they already forfeit that right when they recruited FSU in order to give the football league some credibility and secure a BCS slot?

Well, I was against adding FSU, too, but I refer you to my earlier post about the ACC's distressing habit of not asking me when they make major decisions.

[KWhit]

As far as football is concerned, the ACC is a one team conference. It's fairly embarassing. If the ACC wants to be viewed as a competitive football conference (and it does, because that's where the $ is) then they need to bring in Miami and maybe VT.

[Samdari]

I certainly did not mean to criticize anyone for holding the opinion that the ACC was better as a 9 team "what do you mean they play football too?" basketball-centric conference. I kind of agree, I just think that since they already corrupted themselves for the sake of football money by adding FSU, why not go all out? Is is better to only be a little bit corrupt?

Is that original article somehow implying that Clemson, SC is not a major media market?

[Butter]

Originally posted by Samdari
Is that original article somehow implying that Clemson, SC is not a major media market?

I lived there (not even to go to school, how about THAT), and it is very MAJOR.

OK, no it's not, it's podunkville, it doesn't even have a Wal-Mart.

However, most fans live in one of the largest growing regions of the country, the Greenville-Spartanburg, SC MSA. That area is close to being considered major, but not there yet.

[VPI97]

Originally posted by Samdari
But, I can see where the state political structure would want to protect the interests of BOTH schools. So, when push came to shove, who would get to cast the vote?

The presidents of the ACC schools cast the votes with input from the A.D....that's why I have faith that UVA will veto any non-VT plans....if it were solely up to the A.D., I would think that UVA would probably screw VT.

[Wolfpack]

There are several issues that stand in the way of new members to the ACC, much of which is centered around tradition. Folks in the ACC, particularly in North Carolina, are very in love with the league's history and tradition. It was only with reluctance that they even accepted FSU back in '91 and only barely (the vote was 6-2, a 5-3 vote would have left FSU out). Duke and Wake in particular look upon these developments with concern because they are small private schools and while Miami is also a private school, they're on a par with most public institutions with regard to the athletic programs.

The biggest issues in relation to all this are:
1) The Big Four schools are also very concerned about what an expansion and split to divisions will do to the in-state rivalries. Naturally, they'd like to stick together if it happened, but geographically, there is no way to parse 12 teams into divisions whereby the Big Four stay together with two other schools while the other six form a stretched out division of some kind.

2) Related to (1), the Big Four split can be alleviated somewhat by having permanent non-division games. However, there is also the feeling among members that the uniqueness of every team going home-and-home every year in basketball and every two years in football would be lost. Playing eight games a year in football means you miss three members of the conference in football, while playing 16 games means not everyone comes to your house to play you. You'd be surprised how many people who follow the ACC like the home-and-home arrangement.

3) Does adding three teams and creating a championship game mean more money for each member? The ACC has the highest per-team payout ($9.7 million) of any conference in the country and EVERY team gets that money regardless of on-field performance. Duke basketball picks up FSU basketball while FSU football picks up Duke football. Because of this revenue-sharing, it would have to be something on the order of $30 million in new income to keep per-team payouts at the current level. Most conference members would not support expansion if that number went down.

4) This may seem like a small thing, but it's not. ACC tournament tickets would have to be divided 10 or 12 ways instead of 9. It's already a hard ticket to get as it is. If the league goes to twelve teams, about the only place they could hold the tournament every year would be the Georgia Dome and its 40,000 seat capacity, though if they added Syracuse, perhaps the Carrier Dome would be considered. A lot of big boosters look forward to getting those tickets every year and if fewer of them are going to get it, they may not be happy about it.

[Samdari]

Originally posted by VPI97
The presidents of the ACC schools cast the votes with input from the A.D....that's why I have faith that UVA will veto any non-VT plans....if it were solely up to the A.D., I would think that UVA would probably screw VT.

I understand why the state political structure is interested in protecting Va Tech. I do not understand why the president of UVa would be. Can the state govt. force his hand?

[henry296]

Originally posted by Samdari
I understand why the state political structure is interested in protecting Va Tech. I do not understand why the president of UVa would be. Can the state govt. force his hand?

They can threaten to reduce the state funding for UVA. That would be the pull on the UVA President.

Todd

[Samdari]

Originally posted by Wolfpack
The ACC has the highest per-team payout ($9.7 million) of any conference in the country

Just curious where you get this data. The SEC has had the highest bowl participation (although not necesarily BCS bowls, I believe thats the big 12) and the most NCAA tournament games in the past six years (six chosen because that's how far back the NCAA goes when doling out tourney money).

[digamma]

Originally posted by Samdari
Just curious where you get this data. The SEC has had the highest bowl participation (although not necesarily BCS bowls, I believe thats the big 12) and the most NCAA tournament games in the past six years (six chosen because that's how far back the NCAA goes when doling out tourney money).

Here are the 2001 numbers. I seem to remember reading somewhere recently that the SEC did pass the ACC in 2002. A serious concern, though, for ACC members is whether the additional revenue will feed three extra mouths without reducing per team payouts.

[MylesKnight]

Go MIAMI!!

Anything that gets UCF into a revamped Big East or revamped C-USA or a mixture of the both in a newly formed Conference for All-Sports, is A-Okay with yours truly..

Miami's move will be the beginning of a massive Domino Effect that may eventually change the whole look of Division I Athletics and I-A Football..

[Wolfpack]

The SEC may have passed the ACC in sheer gross by number of teams making bowls and tourneys, but not all those SEC teams reap such a reward. The ACC is full revenue-sharing, meaning that one-ninth of what Duke gets from the NCAA tourney goes to FSU and one-ninth of FSU's BCS take goes to Duke. This is the whole deal where money becomes a concern. Do Duke and FSU get as much when the money becomes one-twelfth instead of one-ninth of each team's intake?

As to the threats against UVa, don't bet against it happening. Some powerful eastern North Carolina legislators threatened to withhold funding from NC State and North Carolina back in the early 90s if they didn't start playing East Carolina again at least occasionally, regardless of whether State and Carolina wanted to play them or not (neither of them did). It was lowball, but it did force both schools to play ECU. State has a game next year in Charlotte against the Pirates that finishes the deal.

[digamma]

Originally posted by Wolfpack
The SEC may have passed the ACC in sheer gross by number of teams making bowls and tourneys, but not all those SEC teams reap such a reward. The ACC is full revenue-sharing, meaning that one-ninth of what Duke gets from the NCAA tourney goes to FSU and one-ninth of FSU's BCS take goes to Duke. This is the whole deal where money becomes a concern. Do Duke and FSU get as much when the money becomes one-twelfth instead of one-ninth of each team's intake?

The SEC is pretty close to full revenue sharing. In 2001, Mississippi got a larger chunk, but everyone else was around $6.5 mil.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear above. I think I remember reading recently that the SEC passed the ACC in 2002 per team payout. I can't find the info on a google search, and I may be making it up. In 2001, as the link above shows, the ACC was first in per team payout. The SEC has been first in total revenue for some time.

[SunDancer]

I would like to see the ACC add one more school, and I think Miami would be an awesome addition. But why not go for a small school, like East Carolina, Marshall, South Florida, Central Florida, ect.

[Wolfpack]

ACC wants Miami before any others are considered because of $$. If this expansion happens, it'll be because the gains financially will be more than standing pat could offer. Not to mention some of those small schools would be stricken from the list before even being written to paper. None of the other ACC schools want another North Carolina school such as ECU (not to mention the NC schools don't want ECU anyway) since the non-NC schools feel the North Carolina schools have too much power as it is (see Gary Williams's remark that he may as well be in "Alaska" considering he's in College Park). USF and UCF, while decent-sized state institutions, probably don't bring the academic and athletic reputation the ACC is looking for to the table (no offense MylesKnight). A Miami-UCF-USF expansion would give a nice coverage of Florida and would solve the pesky division problem rather easily, but due to the aforementioned reasons is not very likely to happen.

The ACC, if they're doing this at all, is going for the big score. It isn't worth the loss in revenue to just "settle" for lesser schools and have a championship game in football. It's gotta be pretty friggin' huge to offset the number of negatives expansion is perceived to bring. Miami fits the bill for a tenth team. Beyond that, no one knows who or if there will be an 11th or 12th.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by MylesKnight
Go MIAMI!!

Anything that gets UCF into a revamped Big East or revamped C-USA or a mixture of the both in a newly formed Conference for All-Sports, is A-Okay with yours truly..

Miami's move will be the beginning of a massive Domino Effect that may eventually change the whole look of Division I Athletics and I-A Football..

I agree with your assesment of the long-term impact, which no one really seems to be discussing here.

What would this mean for the Big East?

With it's cash cow and media darling gone, could it really last long? I would think Syracuse and Va Tech would be looking for a way out as soon as possible, it could cause the whole conference to collapse. Any thoughts on how things would play out?

[Wolfpack]

The Big East as a football conference, if it survives, would be downgraded to mid-major status. As a basketball conference, it'll still be a good league, though Syracuse and BC were two of its better teams last year. The Big East was a basketball league long before it was a football league and that should survive the change without much problem.

[SunDancer]

Originally posted by Marmel
The latest I heard on this was that UConn was being considered in place of BC. Of course, I heard this from some panicked UConn fans who don't know what would happen to them if the Big East fell apart, so take this with a grain of salt.

UConn is joining the Big East Conference anyways, I believe in 2004.

[GrantDawg]

As a football fan, this would be great. Miami, Syracuse and BC in the ACC would make it a definite football powerhouse (though you could trade BC with VT or Pitt and it would be still true). Every team in the ACC would improve because of the increased national attention (the only nationally televised games would no longer be FSU vs. ____). And with basketball, it would definitely become the top grossing conference.

I can't see how the increased money would not more than make up for the difference between a 9 team split to a twelve team split. Think about how much more their TV deal will be worth, not to mention the championship game, at least two extra bowl teams, and an increased chance of having two teams in the BCS every year.

[GrantDawg]

Dola: If you really want to think about a "what-if" senario....

They were talking on the local radio station the other day about what if UGA and Florida joined Miami in the ACC? Talk about a football conference! And all three major universities in Florida in the same conference. Of course, it could never happen, but MylesKnight talking about a dominoe affect, that might cause the SEC to go after UCF or USF.

[RonnieDobbs]

Intersting Article on How this May Affect Basketball

I like the idea of a basketball only Catholic league.

[Radii]

I hate the idea of not playing every team in conference twice every year in college basketball. Do you split up the 4 North Carolina schools? UNC not playing NC State twice a year? That's heresy. But if you keep the 4 North Carolina schools together and split everyone else up, does UNC not get to continue it's tradition of beating Clemson in Chapel Hill every single year? Would Duke and Maryland possibly not get to play home and home's every year. Does Syracuse get weird up and down years because, some years they get screwed and play all the top teams on the road, and some years all the top teams end up coming to the Carrier Dome? Could you imagine a year where Maryland has to play AT Duke and AT North Carolina, and doesn't get to face either one at home?

SIGH

I truly despise the idea of a 12 team basketball conference. Basically, the concerns laid out in Wolfpack's earlier post on the topic. All of my die-hard ACC fan friends that i've talked to are pretty much in the same boat. The passion for the home-and-home in basketball is a very very strong one.

What I have read regarding UNC and Duke's objections to expansion is regarding guarenteed ACC Tournament tickets to the top level boosters. More teams means fewer tournament tickets per school, which apparently UNC and Duke(and maybe others I'm not sure) have tied heavily into alumni contributions, and UNC and Duke don't want to have to tell a group of people they've promised tournament tickets over the next X number of years that they're screwed.

There are two positives I could see coming out of this for basketball.

1) by spreading out the geographical locations of the conferences even more, maybe it would encourage moving the ACC Tournament to other sites more frequently. As much as I love seeing it held in Charlotte or Greensboro every year, really, shouldn't it be in DC on occasion, and St Pete on occasion ,and Atlanta on occasion? And hell, if Syracuse is coming put it in the Carrier Dome once every 8-10 years.

2) If the ACC continues to say screw you to the non NC schools, it would be funny as hell to see Syracuse have to come down to Charlotte every year to try to win the ACC tournament

[SunDancer]

If you were going to spearhead a conference, who would you bring in and why? Be realistic.

[Wolfpack]

Are we talking as god of the ACC or god of our own brand new world?

If it's the ACC and I had a choice, I'd probably want to stay at nine and perhaps 10 with Miami. If I had to go to 12, I'd take Miami, Va Tech, and Penn State (my world, my choices). Split NCSU and Wake South and UNC and Duke North (they'd be big draws in the northern arenas...would also be fun to see how many gangbangers with their off-school-color clothes show up).

King of my own new world, taking from anywhere in the country, depends on the sport.

Football: ND, Miami, FSU, Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio State, Southern California, Texas, Penn State

Basketball: UNC, Duke, Maryland, Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, Arizona, Louisville, Michigan State, Indiana, NC State, Syracuse

[VPI97]

Here's the "unofficial" latest on the ACC expansion

- Miami has informed the ACC office that they will accept an invitation, if offered
- The ACC plans to also invite Syracuse and Boston College
- Currently, the ACC has 6 yes votes, 2 no votes (Duke, UNC), and one on the fence (NC State)

- In reference to what I posted previously, Virginia Gov. Warner has warned UVA against voting yes to any package without VT...UVA has so far ignored him.

[Swaggs]

Here is a question.

The Big East recently signed a sizable television contract with ABC and ESPN that will run through 2007. What will happen to this deal if Miami pulls out?

I'm obviously not sure of the contract's particulars and it very well have an escape clause in the event that the conference disbands or realigns, but I wonder if the other members of the conference could sue UM and/or any other members who leave the conference and cost the remaining schools massive financial loss.

I know WVU just signed Coach Rodriguez to a big, new deal. The deal probably would not have been made (perhaps by either side), had WVU not known about the incoming TV cash. It will probably be a "too bad" situation, but there will be a huge fallout if this happens.